Summer: Gen Checm or Bio?

**Spelling error on Title, supposed to be: "Summer: Gen Chem or Bio", you get the drift.

Hi, I have one quick question. I am currently a freshman in college wrapping up my first year. So far I've taken the core out of the way, intro. to bio and intro to chem (pre. reqs for the General classes) as well. Overall, im just curious, what pair would you recommend me taking this summer?

Depends a lot on you as a student. Personally, I'd knock Gen Chem out of the way. Biology is "easier" and may afford you more time during the school year to do well in other courses or whatever you wish. If you have trouble with chemistry, then take Bio during the summer, giving you more time to learn and do well in chemistry.

Essentially, take whichever sequence you feel will give you the best chance of getting A's in all four of them. If there's no difference, then flip a coin.

i would say take the Bio over the summer. Bio is more about memorizing and chem is more about understanding concepts. Taking chem over a normal semester gives you more time to really understand the material. That is, unless you plan on taking a heavy courseload in the fall then it might be best to take the chem over the summer.

I'm kind of asking myself the same question, but my situation has a little bit extra added to it. Maybe I can get some opinions as well?

I took Chem I this semester, when they don't offer the lab (I'd have to take it in the summer, fall, or even winter). Anyway, I could take Chem II at another school this summer, but it has a lab attached. So basically I'd be in the class but have no lab experience. With that said, would anyone here say it's unwise to take a Chem II clab w/ lab without the Chem I lab experience? Is chem lab knowledge cumulative, or could you jump right into Chem II lab? I got an A in Gen Chem I, if that is pertinent at all. Thanks.

OP: I would take Chem. I did so and it wasn't that bad. Bio requires time to read and memorize while chemistry requires some reading but mostly getting the hang of doing problems. I feel that its easier to study for Chem than Bio in a condensed summer session.

I'm kind of asking myself the same question, but my situation has a little bit extra added to it. Maybe I can get some opinions as well?

I took Chem I this semester, when they don't offer the lab (I'd have to take it in the summer, fall, or even winter). Anyway, I could take Chem II at another school this summer, but it has a lab attached. So basically I'd be in the class but have no lab experience. With that said, would anyone here say it's unwise to take a Chem II clab w/ lab without the Chem I lab experience? Is chem lab knowledge cumulative, or could you jump right into Chem II lab? I got an A in Gen Chem I, if that is pertinent at all. Thanks.

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Most Gen Chem labs do not build on each other, but are intended to parallel the topics covered in the lecture course. That said, most Gen Chem II Labs have the first lab as a prerequisite. If this is not the case at your school, then you would probably be just fine.

I would take Chem..it involves more practice with problems than memorization. At least in the normal semester you'll have more time to memorize the Bio material and read the material. I usually read every chapter for bio classes but I never picked up the book in gen chem so I'd rather take it in the summer.

If you're good at problem solving and can understand things conceptually, I'd go for Chem.

If you're good at memorizing and have some basic knowledge of Biology, I'd go for Bio.

The reason I say this is that most summer classes go faster than the regular courses, so you should favor your strengths.

Best of luck,
-Dr. P.

P.S.: Concerning labs, I agree that the labs are not cumulative. In fact, they seem somewhat unrelated sometimes. They parallel the concept you're learning in lecture. Check and make sure that Chem I Lab is not a pre-req for Chem II lab though.

i would take chem...yes, chem is a lot about concepts, but bio is so much memory that having the condensed time period is a disadvantage. however, you do want to make sure you get a good understanding of chem...but still i'd recommend gen chem in the summer.

If you're good at problem solving and can understand things conceptually, I'd go for Chem.

If you're good at memorizing and have some basic knowledge of Biology, I'd go for Bio.

The reason I say this is that most summer classes go faster than the regular courses, so you should favor your strengths.

Best of luck,
-Dr. P.

P.S.: Concerning labs, I agree that the labs are not cumulative. In fact, they seem somewhat unrelated sometimes. They parallel the concept you're learning in lecture. Check and make sure that Chem I Lab is not a pre-req for Chem II lab though.

Thanks for the advice so far, but im still a little bit lost. I was recommended to take General Biology this summer by another professor because one of the professors teaching Gen Bio 1 is conducting Cancer research and is well known for being a good teacher. The professor teaching Gen Bio 2 is heavily funded but im unsure what she is researching.

Or I can just go to General Chem. to the school I plan on transferring to this Fall term to get used to it. The problem is, I am unsure whose teaching the Gen. Chem strings but I covered most of the topics in Gen chem 1+2 so It wont be a problem I think.

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